Britain said Wednesday it will give...

SPECIAL RIGHTS.

December 21, 1989

- LONDON — SPECIAL RIGHTS. Britain said Wednesday it will give special residence rights to an estimated 225,000 Hong Kong Chinese to prevent a crippling brain drain in the colony before it reverts to China in 1997. Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd told the House of Commons the number includes a maximum of 50,000 key people in Hong Kong's public and private sector along with their families. Giving key people in government, business and the professions the right to live in Britain was essential to persuade them to remain in Hong Kong and ensure that it passes ''successfully through the final eight years of British rule,'' he said.